It seems that in MySQL, TEXT columns cannot have a default value.
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/blob.html#id3024957
table_column(...), which is the recommended way to modify database tables, will happily create TEXT columns with default ''.
Therefore you get bugs like bug 6206.
What a pain in the neck.
Apparently one or two folks do: http://www.downloadsquad.com/2006/07/28/mysql-used-by-majority-of-alwayson-100-innovators/
Well, it's not so bad if it gets people (and apps) to use it as a basic DB, and eventually migrate to Pg for the real stuff 
Jokes aside, MySQL has been around and easy to install/use for ages, where Pg has traditionally been much harder (getting there now with 8.1 running on windows). And MySQL is still what is easily available in no-frills hosting, which is exactly where Moodle gathered momentum.
We can't really flame users for using it, it's still Moodle's recommended DB.
Jokes aside, MySQL has been around and easy to install/use for ages, where Pg has traditionally been much harder (getting there now with 8.1 running on windows). And MySQL is still what is easily available in no-frills hosting, which is exactly where Moodle gathered momentum.
We can't really flame users for using it, it's still Moodle's recommended DB.